Category: CNN Regional

By Brian Sherrod

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    AURORA, Colorado (KCNC) — It may not feel like it, but winter is coming, and the City of Aurora already has it in mind, specifically with winter snowplow operations. Snow plow drivers aren’t just getting ready for the winter; they’re training to compete in the Snow Roadeo.

Dozens of Aurora city employees are dusting off their training this week, while having some fun as well. City workers say once they are done this week, they will be even more prepared for the snow, especially since the city plows up to 1,600 miles of roadway during a single winter storm.

This hands on training gives drivers the chance to use their plow blades appropriately while maneuvering around parked and moving vehicles. The course, at the Aurora County Fairgrounds, takes about three and a half to four minutes to complete.

Each driver and team is then judged based on their speed and abilities. Even though the ground is dry and snow free, city workers say these days are the best days to train.

“The time to practice is now when there is no snow on the ground,” Mark Tamburro, Street Operations Manager for Public Works, said. “It is a lot safer. We have a lot of new employees. This whole week is about training for them.

The winners from this week will represent in the American Public Works Association’s Regional Snow Roadeo in Loveland later this month. This will feature drivers from several western states.

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By Daisy Kershaw

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    CINCINNATI (WLWT) — Three young students were shot and killed in a murder-suicide in Mt. Washington.

Cincinnati police confirm the shooter knew at least one of the victims, saying there was a ‘romantic interest’.

A family member of Feven and Eden Adugna, two of the people killed in that shooting, says that Eden reported the shooter, Samuel Ericksen, to police about a month before he killed her, her sister, and their friend Bemnet Deresse.

“We learned, she called 911 after the second date,” said the girls’ uncle, Negash Adugna. “The police went to his family’s house. We heard that he’s, his gun was locked in the safe… But in 22 days, this happened.”

Negash took his nieces in after their father killed their mother in Ethiopia in what he says was a “domestic violence situation.”

On Tuesday, outside the Beacon Street apartment complex the girls called home, at the vigil for Feven, Eden, and Bemnet, Negash shared how painful it is knowing they died the way they did.

“Just keep rewinding and rewinding until I get the answer,” said Negash.

We sat down with Kristin Shrimplin to talk about dating violence in the wake of this tragedy.

She’s the CEO and President of Women Helping Women, an organization that helps survivors of sexual assault and violence.

“This year, we are on pace to serve 10,000 survivors. We’ve never seen that before,” said Shrimplin.

They’re concerned with a trend in Southwest Ohio, saying of the sexual, domestic, dating, and interpersonal violence reports they receive, their data shows more than half of the victims have experienced serious physical harm like choking.

Shrimplin says it can happen at any point in a relationship.

“Dating violence pops up after people have been broken up, you know, intimate partner violence pops up after people have broken up. In fact, that’s when violence and stalking can increase,” she said.

When we asked how people can help those experiencing violence, she laid out some of the best ways to be there for them.

“When anyone raises their hand and describes what they’re going through and if they feel there’s a pattern, and it’s traumatic, then it’s really important to listen, believe, and then connect them to help if that’s what they want,” Shrimplin said.

If you want to know more about the resources available to you or anyone who may be experiencing violence, visit: womenhelpingwomen.org

You can contact Women Helping Women’s 24/7 support line at 513-381-5610.

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By Chloe Keith

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    HUNTER, Ohio (WLWT) — A suspect is in custody after an hours-long standoff in Franklin Township Thursday morning, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Crews were dispatched to a home on Post Rail Lane around 10:40 a.m. after a neighbor reported gunshots and screaming. The neighbor also reported a bullet struck their home.

A responding deputy approached the house when a man in the top window pointed a shotgun at them and said, “I’ve got something for you,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Additional units were called in for backup and the man eventually dropped the shotgun but refused to leave the home.

The Warren County Task Force Response received a search warrant, broke the front door with a battering ram, and used gas to get the man outside. He was taken into custody around 1:15 a.m. and faces charges including inducing panic, aggravated menacing, and vandalism.

No injuries were reported.

Alcohol or drugs may be a factor, the sheriff’s office said.

This story was curated by Hearst’s WLWT Alert Desk.

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By Olivia Hickey

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    NORMAN, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Dozens gathered at the University of Oklahoma’s campus in Norman Wednesday night to pay their respects to Charlie Kirk with a candlelight vigil organized by the OU chapter of Turning Point USA.

The vigil took place at the campus’s South Oval, where mourners left behind bouquets of flowers. Turning Point USA is known for educating students on conservative values, and efforts were underway to have Kirk speak on the Norman campus.

“Charlie Kirk held so many views that were important to me,” one attendee said. “He was willing to have the tough conversations that no one else was.”

Attendees with differing political views honored Kirk through music, prayer, and a candlelit vigil. One attendee expressed disagreement with Kirk’s views but felt he shouldn’t have had to die while sharing his political ideas.

“I’ve never been a fan of that sort of media, but just video and seeing it and the way that he died was horrible,” the attendee said. “I just wanted to come and show respect.”

The vigil wrapped up around 8:30 p.m., with attendees saying the best way to honor Kirk and carry his legacy is to continue sharing their values while being respectful of others.

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By Ben Kaplan

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    ANKENY, Iowa (KCCI) — Two heroes from Central Iowa will be honored Saturday night for their bravery and the inspiration they’re giving to others.

Albia fifth-grader Lennox Craig and Ankeny’s Tricia Busch are two cancer survivors who have been named the pediatric and adult Honored Heroes at the annual Light the Night walk in Ankeny on Saturday.

The event is hosted by Blood Cancer United, formerly the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Lennox was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just 5 years old, right in the thick of the pandemic.

“It was a whirlwind,” her dad Cory Craig recalls, saying it “just happened all at once.”

Cory tells KCCI that Lennox complained that her arm was asleep. Ten minutes later, he says she came and got them again, and that she became extremely lethargic and stopped responding.

“So, we just literally said, we got to go now,” Cory said.

They rushed to the hospital, and before they knew it, their 5-year-old was life-flighted to Iowa City.

“I remember them telling us that it was oncology and hematology and taking us. I knew instantly; my brother had cancer as a kid. We knew exactly where we were headed. And I remember looking at him and saying, ‘It’s cancer,'” Lennox’s mom, Jessica, said.

The first thing Lennox said she remembers is, “Waking up in a hospital bed.”

Tricia Busch’s journey was similar in that it seemed to come out of nowhere.

“We were watching the Cowboys play the Vikings. We were walking to U.S. Bank Stadium, and I was just struggling to breathe,” Tricia said.

That was in 2022. A trip to urgent care when they returned from Minnesota turned into an immediate visit to the emergency room, where they drained a bag full of fluid from her lungs.

“And sure enough, they found a tumor the size of a softball in my chest,” Tricia said.

The diagnosis was lymphoma. It came five years after she beat thyroid cancer.

Like Lennox, Tricia was in for a multi-year battle against the disease.

The mother of three, who always wanted to be a mom, is now in remission. Lennox is two years off treatment. They will both be at Saturday night’s Light the Night at DMACC in Ankeny, located at 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd.

The Opening Ceremony and Walk begin at 7:30 p.m. There are fireworks afterward.

If you would like to attend, sign up a team, donate or just want to learn more about Light the Night, you can go here: lightthenight.org/events/des-moines

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By Kayla James

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    MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (KCCI) — State and Marshall County health officials say they are getting closer to determining the source of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Marshalltown.

During a Marshall County Board of Supervisors regular meeting Wednesday morning, the county public health director and Iowa’s State Epidemiologist spoke in front of the supervisors and people sitting in the audience.

According to the State Epidemiologist, Dr. Matthew Donahue, investigators believe the source could be a cooling tower. He says they’ve likely found all of them, but are still looking to make sure one has not been missed.

“Because of how wide it appears to be spread — because of the calls we made to patients so far — that seems like the most likely answer,” said Donahue. “We know that some outbreaks in the past have occurred from Legionella that multiplied to high levels in cooling towers, and then that water evaporated and it spread in a small area.”

The Marshall County Public Health director, Sydney Grewell, said by the end of Wednesday she would have tested 10 cooling towers of businesses in the north central part of Marshalltown.

“For each of those cooling towers that we think could be the reason why Legionella is spreading, we’re asking them to disinfect the whole thing,” said Donahue.

Donahue says disinfecting the cooling towers should kill the Legionella and decrease the risk of spread.

“If we’re not seeing new cases pop up after 14 days, then we think the outbreak has now been brought under control, and we might have disinfected the right tower,” said Donahue.

According to both the county and state health departments, businesses in Marshalltown are being urged to have a water management plan to make sure their cooling towers are disinfected properly in the future to avoid any future outbreaks.

As of Wednesday, there have been 34 cases in Marshalltown and one death.

Donahue shared a timeline during the meeting. He said the first cases were reported on Aug. 24, and an intensive investigation began the next week.

“When we have a lab report that comes into us, we call that patient,” said Donahue. “We figure out where all have you been? Where might you have picked this up?”

Part of that investigation also involved the county and state health departments reaching out to area healthcare providers.

“We have antibiotics that work really well to get rid of it, and those antibiotics work well the vast majority of the time when someone has a Legionella pneumonia,” said Donahue.

Donahue says they’ve essentially ruled out other sources, such as a hotel or a water fountain.

Both the county and state health departments ask people to stay vigilant of their own health to help as they try to end the outbreak.

“If you have a cough and fever, shortness of breath, you think you might have a respiratory infection or pneumonia — talk to your doctor and tell them about Legionella,” said Donahue.

Donahue emphasized that there is no person-to-person transmission of Legionella and that it takes two to 14 days from being exposed to someone actually getting sick. He also said that people are exposed to Legionella every day in the environment, and it’s only an unlucky few who get really sick.

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By Steven Rosenbaum

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    DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — Dallas police responded to a deadly incident at a motel east of Downtown Wednesday morning.

Numerous police units and paramedics responded to the Downtown Suites on Samuell Boulevard around 9:30 a.m.

The Dallas Police Department said a suspect cut the victim, identified as 50-year-old Chandra Nagamallaiah, “with an edged weapon several times,” and paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

Police said a suspect, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, is in custody and charged with capital murder. In addition to that charge, he has an immigration hold for allegedly being in the U.S. without authorization, according to Dallas County Jail records.

A witness told CBS News Texas reporter Briseida Holguin that Nagamallaiah and Cobos-Martinez were both employees of the motel. The witness said the suspect chased the victim with a machete, hit him multiple times and then cut off his head.

Video from the CBS News Texas Chopper showed a body and a trail of blood outside of a room on the motel’s ground floor.

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By Paula Wethington, Heath Kalb

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    MACOMB COUNTY, Michigan (WWJ) — At least one person was injured in the aftermath of a house fire on Wednesday morning in Macomb County, Michigan.

The fire was in the 48000 block of Donner Road in New Baltimore. Chesterfield Fire Department responded to the scene, along with assisting agencies.

One person was taken by ambulance to an area hospital because of smoke inhalation and burns, the fire department said.

Footage from Chesterfield Township police body cameras shows the moments as first responders rush to save the life of a 76-year-old man trapped inside the home. When police and firefighters arrived, they observed the back of the house to be fully engulfed in flames. The first responders heard a man gasping for air from the front room of the home.

Authorities crawled into and entered the residence, and were able to save the homeowner and the only person inside the house. The 76-year-old man was transported to a hospital.

Authorities say the man sustained burns to the left side of his body and was listed in critical condition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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